I Married A Car Guy: My Journey Toward Car Literacy

Hi, I'm Debbie Nol, and I married a car guy. My 14 years of working at Arie Nol Auto Center has been an incredible journey, building amazing relationships with customers and learning so much from our experienced technicians.

Now I'm launching a blog to share what I've learned about cars and some of my most memorable customer stories. Hopefully you will find my blog both helpful and entertaining!

Monthly Archives: June 2016

Being a NAPA Autocare center gives us, a small independent business, the opportunity to take advantage of training, parts purchasing and the ability to participate in different programs. Each year, NAPA offers a 'give back and get back' program that offers customers a rebate as well as a way to give back to the service people that have been injured protecting our freedom. We've participated in this program for years and always felt it was a terrific opportunity to give back. Several of us from Arie Nol Auto Center had the opportunity to attend a NAPA training event this past year. One of the speakers was an Armed Services veteran that had suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) while serving in the military. He spoke about the affect his injuries had not just on his life but on his family's life. Listening to him share what having access to the programs offered by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund meant to himself and his family, put the struggles he faced right i ... read more

What do you do? Your vehicle temperature gauge or oil light is in the red but you are SO close to your destination. Just a little bit farther and you won’t have to pull over on the side of the road. This happens and I totally understand. The last place I want to be is on the side of the road with a dead car. Especially if I’m on the highway or in an unfamiliar place. My goal would always be to get to my destination or a service facility. Unfortunately, you can do additional damage to your vehicle if you continue to drive it. It’s also hard to determine, based on what’s happening, as to whether continuing to drive is a bad idea. Looking at your owner’s manual may give you additional information but pulling over to read the owner’s manual isn’t really ideal either. From the time Jeff and I started dating and he became in charge of my vehicle maintenance for my 1976 Honda Civic Wagon, he told me the rules for non-technicians. Stop. If the vehicle is ... read more

A teenagers list of desirable car traits: Cool Not a minivan Awesome sound system A parent’s list of desirable traits for their teenage driver’s car: Safe Reliable No acceleration Looking for a used car can be stressful. Even more so when looking for one for a new driver in your household. It can be a good opportunity to teach them about research, test drives, and inspections. Firstly, do your research on the models you are interested in purchasing. Test drive with the radio OFF and listen for sounds that are not normal for a well-maintained vehicle. Finally, if you’ve found a vehicle you like and you think it would be a fair purchase, have it inspected by a licensed, certified technician at your favorite repair facility. It might seem like an unnecessary expense but it can be a great investment. You might find out that the beautiful vehicle that drives like a dream needs a thousand dollars worth of work to ... read more

A long-time customer came in with coolant leaking from her vehicle. Her vehicle contained her work items along with three grandchildren. Sitting at our shop was not on her agenda for the day. Jeff had one of the technicians check out the vehicle and it was determined that it wasn’t drivable. The customer had someone that could arrange to pick her up but they didn’t know if there would be enough room for all three kids, with one in a car seat, to be taken home in one trip. I had been putting plants in the planters outside of the office door, one of my favorite jobs every spring. One of the young ladies came out and chatted with me while I planted the flowers and our technicians inspected her grandmother’s vehicle. We talked about basketball, summer vacation and her two sisters. Most days my job requires paperwork, phone calls, speaking with customers, social media and probably more paperwork. Customer service is the focus for all of us here. Making peop ... read more